ViiAii 


»3jg^j(2^jjy22jjjlji 


f306.362  Samuel  Batchelder.   The  Respon- 
^13r     sibility  of  the  North  in 

Relation  to  Slavery.   (1856) 


LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


i 


1 


TIIK 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE  NOETH 


IN    liKLATIO.N    TO 


SLAVERY. 


xjlI 


CAMBRIDGE: 
PRINTED    BY    ALLEN     AND    FARNIIAM. 

18  5  0. 


THE 


KESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE  NORTH 


IN   RELATION   TO 


SLAVERY. 


CAMBRIDGE  : 
PRINTED    BY    ALLEN    AND    FARNHAM. 

18  5  6. 


6  3  /5  r 


THE  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE  NORTH  IN 
RELATION  TO  SLAVERY. 


During  a  debate  near  the  close  of  the  last  session  of 
Congress,  it  was  asserted  that  if  the  New  England 
States  had  voted  in  the  convention  for  forming  the 
constitution,  against  the  extension  of  the  slave-trade,  it 
would  have  been  abolished  eight  years  sooner  than  it 
was,  and  charging  it  upon  Massachusetts  that,  on  ac- 
tiount  of  her  interest  in  the  slave-trade,  her  members 
voted  in  favor  of  continuing  it  until  1808.  On  some 
doubt  being  expressed  as  to  the  correctness  of  this 
charge,  a  southern  member  challenged  a  contradiction, 
and  one  of  the  Massachusetts  senators  was  ready  to  con- 
fess for  his  constituents,  for  the  sake  of  saying  that  they 
had  since  repented.  All  this  seemed  to  be  a  new  discov- 
ery, and  I  was  at  a  loss  to  know  on  what  authority  it  was 
founded.  Upon  examination  I  find  it  depends  upon  an 
article  published  in  the  National  Intelligencer,  quoting 
fiotn  the  journal  of  the  convention  as  follows:  —  "The 
first  committee  on  the  subject  consisted  of  Rutledge  of 
South  Carolina,  Randolph  of  Virginia,  Wilson  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Gorharn  of  Massachusetts,  and  Ellsworth  of 
Connecticut,  and  they  reported  as  a  section  for  the  con- 


stitution,  '  That  no  tax  or  other  duty  should  be  laid  on 
the  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  the 
several  States  should  think  proper  to  admit,  nor  shall 
such  migration  or  importation  be  prohibited.' 

"This  was  the  first  action  of  the  convention  on  the 
slavery  question ;  and  it  will  be  seen  that  a  committee, 
the  mjyorit}'^  of  which  was  from  what  are  now  strong 
anti-slavery  States,  reported  against  any  future  prohibi- 
tion of  the  African  slave-trade,  but  were  willing  to  le- 
galize it  perpetually. 

"  This  section  was  subsequently  referred  to  a  commit- 
tee selected  by  ballot,  consisting  of  Langdon  of  New 
Hampshire,  King  of  Massachusetts,  Johnson  of  Con- 
necticut, Livingston  of  New  Jersey,  Clymer  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Dickinson  of  Delaware,  Martin  of  Maryland, 
Madison  of  Virginia,  Williamson  of  North  Carolina,  C. 
C.  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina,  and  Baldwin  of  Geor- 
gia. This  committee,  a  majority  of  which  was  from 
slave  States,  reported  the  clause  with  authority  to  Con- 
gress to  prohibit  the  slave-trade  after  the  year  1800, 
and  in  the  mean  time  to  levy  a  tax  on  such  importa- 
tions. This  section  was  afterwards  modified  and  adopted 
as  it  now  exists  in  the  constitution,  extending  the  time 
before  which  Congress  could  not  prohibit  the  trade 
until  1808;  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  and  Con- 
necticut, free  States,  and  Maryland,  North  and  South 
Carolina,  slave  States,  voting  for  the  extension.  New  Jer- 
sey and  Pennsylvania,  free  States,  and  Delaware  and 
Virginia,  slave  States,  voting  against  it."  So  fiir  the 
statement  in  the  Intelligencer. 

The  inferences  drawn  are  as  follows:  — 

"  1.  A  committee,  the  majority   of  which   was  from 


free  States,  report  in  favor  of  denying  to  Congress  the 
power  at  any  period  to  prohibit  the  African  slave- 
trade." 

"  2.  That  a  subsequent  committee,  a  majority  of 
which  was  from  the  slave  States,  reported  a  new  section, 
authorizing  Congress  to  abolish  the  trade  after  1800." 

"  3.  That  this  period  was  extended  until  the  year 
1808,  thus  giving  eight  additional  years  to  the  traffic, 
by  the  vote  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and  Con- 
necticut, while  the  vote  of  Virginia  was  against  such 
extension." 

All  this  bears  such  an  appearance  of  authenticity, 
that  we  are  not  surprised  that  it  has  found  its  way  into 
Mr.  Adams's  "  South  side  View  of  Slavery,"  —  but  he 
goes  somewhat  further,  and  makes  New  England  re- 
sponsible for  the  slaves  imported  between  1800  and 
1808,  with  all  their  posterity,  estimated  at  300,000,  and 
asks,  "  Can  any  one  inform  us  where  Northern  moral 
sense  was,  or  whether  it  was  in  the  convention,  when 
thQ  North  protracted  the  slave-trade  eight  years  longer 
than  the  South  wished  to  endure  it?" 

Before  this  becomes  settled  as  an  uncontradicted 
charge  against  New  England,  it  may  be  well  to  exam- 
ine the  matter  a  little  farther,  which  we  are  fortunately 
able  to  do  by  the  "  Debates  in  the  Federal  Convention," 
published  in  the  "Madison  Papers,"*  and  we  shall  find 
that  the  whole  proceedings  give  no  warrant,  either  for 
the  charg:e  that  Massachusetts  was  influenced  in  her 


o^ 


*  The  report  of  Judge  Yates  contains  nothing  on  the  subject,  he  hav- 
ing left  the  convention  on  the  5th  of  July,  before  this  niatter  came 
under  consideration. 


G 

votes  by  the  interest  of  her  citizens  in  the  Khive-trade, 
or  that  the  North  protracted  the  shive-trade  ^/V//// ^tw5 
lom/cr  than  the  Sonth  imhed  to  endure  it. 

The  history  of  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  is 
as  follows.  From  their  organization  on  the  2-jth  of 
May,  1787,  to  the  2()th  of  July,  the  convention  was  en- 
gaged in  discussing  and  deciding  on  the  principles  which 
should  be  embodied  in  the  constitution,  and  on  the  vari- 
ous plans  and  motions  which  were  submitted  for  their 
consideration.  Having  decided,  in  a  preliminary  man- 
ner, upon  most  of  these,  in  the  form  of  resolutions,  on 
Monday,  July  23d,  it  was  voted,  "That  the  proceedings 
of  the  convcniion  for  the  establishment  of  a  national  gov- 
ernment be  referred  to  a  committee  to  prepare  and  re- 
port a  constitution  conforniablc  thereto." 

This  connnittee  was  appointed  by  ballot  on  the  24th, 
consisting  of  Messrs.  Kutledge,  Randolph,  Gorham,  Ells- 
worth, and  Wilson,  who  are  afterwards  several  times  re- 
ferred to  as  the  "  committee  of  detaiV  And  on  "  the 
26th,  the  proceedings  since  Monday  last  were  unani- 
mously referred  to  the  committee  of  detail,  and  the  con- 
vention unanimously  adjourned  till  Monday,  August  Gth, 
that  the  committee  of  detait  might  have  time  to  prepare 
and  report  the  constitution." 

It  may  be  well  to  notice  here,  how  carefully  the  au- 
thority of  this  committee  is  restricted.  Though  the 
vote  was  passed  on  the  23d  of  July  referring  the  pro- 
ccedings  of  the  convention  to  the  committee,  to  prepare  and 
report  a  constitution  confonrndtle  thereto,  the  convention 
still  proceed  until  the  2(Uh  to  debate  and  settle  further 
principles,  and  then  refer  these  further  proceedings  to 
the  same  committee  for  the  same  purpose,  after  having 


completed  what  may  be  considered  their  instructions  to 
the  committee.  This  commltice  of  detail  is  the  first  com- 
mittee alhided  to  in  the  article  from  the  Intelligencer, 
a  majority  of  which  was  from  the  free  States,  and  who 
are  charged  with  reporting  the  article  against  any 
future  prohibition  of  the  African  slave-trade.  Now  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  duty  of  this  committee  was  only 
to  digest  and  prepare  a  constitution  in  conformity  tvith  the 
proceedings  already  taken  by  the  convention.  In  reporting 
the  preliminary  form  of  a  constitution,  containing  the 
article  above  mentioned,  they  could  only  be  responsible 
for  the  faithful  digest  and  arrangement  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  convention  referred  to  them  for  this  purpose, 
and  in  obeying  the  instructions  of  the  convention  they 
should  be  fairly  and  fully  exonerated  on  their  part  from 
the  guilt  of  any  intention  of  "  legalizing  slavery  per- 
petually." 

It  should  be  further  mentioned  as  an  indication  of  the 
prevailing  feeling  at  the  time,  that  on  the  passage  of 
the  vote  for  this  committee,  "  General  Pinckney  re- 
minded the  convention  that  if  the  committee  should 
fail  to  insert  some  security  to  the  Southern  States 
against  an  emancipation  of  slaves,  and  taxes  on  exports, 
he  should  be  bound  by  duty  to  his  State  to  vote  against 
their  report."  * 

Having  now  disposed  of  the  first  accusation  against 
the  North,  and  seen  how  far  the  committee  from  the 
free  States  are  chargeable  with  a  disposition  to  "  legalize 
slavery,'  it  is  time  to  proceed  to  an  examination  of  the 
further  doings  of  the  convention. 

♦Madison  Papers,  p.  1187- 


8 


The  committee  of  detail  reported  the  proposed  form  and 
outline  of  a  constitution  on  the  Gth  of  August,  contain- 
ing the  article  as  first  drawn  respecting  slavery,  with 
the  clause  denying  to  Congress  the  power  to  prohibit 
the  importation  of  slaves,  and  the  convention  then  pro- 
ceeded to  debate  and  decide  upon  the  several  articles, 
with  or  without  amendment.  On  Tuesday,  the  21st 
day  of  August,  as  appears  by  the  journal  of  the  con- 
vention, when  this  part  of  the  report  was  under  consid- 
eration, "  on  the  question  to  agree  to  the  first  clause  of 
the  fourth  section  of  the  seventh  article  as  reported,  it 
passed  in  the  affirmative.  It  was  then  moved  and  sec- 
onded to  insert  the  word  ^free '  before  ^persons '  in  the 
fourth  section  of  the  seventh  article.  The  clause  would 
then  read, '  No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  by  the  legisla- 
ture on  articles  exported  from  any  State,  nor  on  the 
migration  or  importation  of  such  free  persons  as  the  sev- 
eral States  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  nor  shall  such 
migration  be  prohibited.' "  A  debate  on  this  motion 
was  continued  until  the  adjournment  for  the  day,  and 
l^art  of  the  next  day,  during  which,  the  journal  says, 
the  motion  was  withdrawn,  and  it  appears  from  the  lan- 
guage used  by  some  of  the  speakers  that  a  motion  was 
under  consideration  to  strike  out  the  clause. 

A  few  extracts  from  the  speeches  of  the  members 
will  show  the  feelings  of  the  North  and  of  the  South  on 
the  subject  of  slavery,  and  enable  the  reader  to  decide 
how  far  the  North  was  guilty  of  protracting  the  slave- 
trade  "  eight  years  longer  than  the  South  wished  to  en- 
dure it." 

When  that  part  of  the  report  relating  to  representa- 
tion in  Congress  was  under  consideration,  Mr.  King,  of 


Massachusetts,  had  remaiked  that  ''the  admission  of 
slaves  was  a  most  grating  circumstance  to  his  mind, 
and  he  heheved  would  be  so  to  a  great  part  of  the  peo- 
ple of  America.  lie  had  not  made  a  strenuous  opposi- 
sition  to  it  heretofore,  because  he  had  hoped  that  this 
concession  would  have  produced  a  readiness,  which  has 
not  been  manifested,  to  strengthen  the  general  govern- 
ment, and  to  mark  a  fidl  confidence  in  it.  The  report 
under  consideration  had,  by  the  tenor  of  it,  put  an  end 
to  all  these  hopes.  In  two  great  points  the  hands  of 
the  legislature  were  absolutely  tied.  The  importation 
of  slaves  could  not  be  prohibited.    Exports  could  not  be 

taxed He  had  hoped  that  some  accommodation 

would  have  taken  place  on  the  subject,  that  at  least  a 
time  would  have  been  limited  for  the  importation  of 
slaves.  He  never  could  agree  to  let  them  be  imported 
without  limitation,  and  then  to  be  represented  in  the 
national  legislature."  On  the  same  occasion  Gouverneur 
Morris  of  Pennsylvania  said,  "He  never  could  concur  in 
upholding  domestic  slavery.  It  was  a  most  nefarious 
institution,  it  was  the  curse  of  heaven  on  the  States 
where  it  prevailed."  '•• 

On  the  21st  of  August,  in  the  debate  upon  the  article 
respecting  the  importation  of  slaves,  Mr.  Rutledge  of 
South  Carolina  said,  —  "  The  true  question  at  present  is 
whether  the  Southern  States  shall  or  shall  not  be  parties 
to  the  Union." 

Mr.  C.  C.  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina  said,  "South 
Carolina  can  never  receive  the  plan  if  it  prohibits  the 
slave-trade.     In  every  proposed  extension  of  the  power 

*  Madison  Papers,  p.  12G1-1263. 

2 


10 


of  Corjrrross  that  State  has  expressly  and  -watchfully 
excepted  that  of  meddling  Avith  the  importation  of 
negroes.""'' 

General  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina  "  declared  it  to 
be  his  firm  opinion  that  if  himself  and  all  his  colleagues 
were  to  sign  the  constitution  and  use  their  personal  in- 
fluence, it  would  be  of  no  avail  towards  obtaining  the 
consent  of  their  constituents.  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  cannot  do  without  slaves  ....  should  con- 
sider a  rejection  of  the  clause  as  an  exclusion  of  South 
Carolina  from  the  Union." 

Mr.  Dickinson  of  Delaware  "  considered  it  as  inad- 
missible on  every  principle  of  honor  and  safety  that  the 
importation  of  slaves  should  be  authorized  to  the  States 
by  the  constitution." 

Mr.  Williamson  of  North  Carolina  "thought  the  South- 
ern States  could  not  be  members  of  the  Union  if  the 
clause  should  be  rejected." 

Mr.  King  of  Massachusetts  "thought  the  subject 
should  be  considered  in  a  political  light  only.  If  two 
States  will  not  agree  to  the  constitution,  as  stated  on 
one  side,  he  could  affirm  with  equal  belief  on  the  other, 
that  great  and  equal  opposition  would  be  experienced 
from  other  States." 

Mr.  Langdon  of  New  Hampshire  was  strenuous  for 
giving  the  power  to  the  general  government.  He 
could  not,  with  a  good  conscience,  leave  it  with  the 
States,  who  could  then  go  on  with  the  traffic."f 

General  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina"  thought  himself 
bound  to  declare  candidly  that  he  did  not  think  South 

♦Mf^dison  Papers,  p.  1389-1092.  tib.  p.  1394,  139o. 


11 


Carolina  would  stop  her  importation  of  slaves  in  any 
short  time ;  but  only  btop  them  occasionally  as  she  now 
does."  He  moved  that  the  clause  be  committed,  evi- 
dently for  the  purpose  of  so  modifying  the  article  as  to 
permit  the  importation. 

Mr.  Rutledge  of  South  Carolina  said,  "  If  the  conven- 
tion thinks  that  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia  will  ever  agree  to  the  plan,  unless  their  right 
to  import  slaves  be  untouched,  the  expectation  is  vain. 
The  people  of  those  States  will  never  be  such  fools  as 
to  give  up  so  important  an  interest.  He  was  strenuous 
against  striking  out  the  section,  and  seconded  the  mo- 
tion of  Gen.  Pinckney  for  a  commitment."  * 

Mr.  Sherman  of  Connecticut  said  "  it  was  better  to  let 
the  Southern  States  import  slaves  than  to  part  with 
them,  if  they  made  that  a  sine  qua  non." 

Mr.  Randolph  of  Virginia  w\as  "  for  committing  in 
order  that  some  middle  ground  might,  if  possible,  be 
found.  He  could  never  agree  to  the  clause  as  it  stands. 
He  would  sooner  risk  the'constitution."-}- 

Mr.  Ellsworth  of  Connecticut  said,  "If  we  do  not 
agree  upon  this  middle  and  moderate  course  he  was 
afraid  we  should  lose  two  States,  with  such  others  as 
may  be  disposed  to  stand  aloof,  should  fly  into  a  variety 
of  shapes  and  directions,  and  most  probably  into  sev- 
eral confederations,  and  not  without  bloodshed."  ;j: 

Thus  after  a  protracted  and  warm  discussion,  it  be- 
came evident  that  some  compromise  must  be  effected 
to  reconcile  the  conflicting  views  of  the  North  and  the 
South ;  and  on  motion  of  General  Pinckney  of  South 

*  Miidison  Papers,  p.  13'J5,  13JG.  f  lb.  p.  13'JG,  1397. 

{  lb.  p.  1397. 


12 


Ciirolina,  seconded  by  Mr.  Kutledge  of  the  same  iState, 
the  subject  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  one  from 
each  State  then  represented  in  the  convention,  evi- 
dently to  find  some  "  middle  ground  "  as  suggested  by 
Mr.  Kan(lol[)li  of  V^irginia,  and  assented  to  by  Mr.  Ells- 
worth and  Mr.  Sherman  of  Connecticut,  rather  than 
lose  some  of  the  Southern  States,  and  at  the  hazard  of 
"flying  off  into  several  confederations." 

This  committee  of  eleven  was  appointed  on  the  22d 
of  August,  consisting  of  Mr.  Langdon  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, Mr.  King  of  Massachusetts,  Mr.  Johnson  of  Con- 
necticut, Mr.  Livingston  of  New  Jersey,  Mr.  Clymer  of 
Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Dickinson  of  Delaware,  Mr,  Martin 
of  Maryland,  Mr.  Madison  of  Virginia,  Mr.  Williamson 
of  North  Carolina,  Mr.  C.  C.  Pinckney  of  South  Caro- 
lina, and  Mr.  Baldwin  of  Georgia.  On  the  24th  of 
August  this  committee  reported  the  clause  in  the  fol- 
lowing form.  "The  migration  or  importation  of  such 
persons  as  the  several  States  now  existing  shall  think 
proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  legisla- 
ture, prior  to  the  year  1800." 

In  the  foregoing  debates  we  sec  no  want  of  zeal  in 
favor  of  the  slave-trade,  on  the  part  of  the  South,  and 
no  indifference  on  the  part  of  the  North  with  regard  to 
the  slave-trade,  or  slavery  in  general.  But  it  became 
very  evident,  that,  in  order  to  keep  the  States  together, 
there  must  be  some  com})romise  upon  the  subject,  and 
the  committee  of  eleven  was  chosen  for  this  purpose. 
The  South  insisted  that  Congress  should  have  no  power 
to  impose  any  restrictions  on  the  importation  of  slaves, 
and  the  North  was  determined  that  there  must  be  a  re- 
striction or  prohil)ition  in  future,  if  not  at  present.    The 


10 
O 


result  was  a  report  from  the  committee,  in  substance 
allowing  Congress  the  power  of  prohibiting  the  slave- 
trade  after  the  year  1800,  and  restricting  them  from 
the  exercise  of  that  power  before  that  time.  But  the 
terms  of  this  compromise  were  not  satisfactory  to  the 
South,  and  on  the  25th  of  August,  when  the  report 
came  under  consideration,  it  was  amended  by  inserting 
1808  instead  of  1800.  From  the  fact  that  this  amend- 
ment was  made  without  debate,  and  upon  the  motion 
of  Gen.  Pinckney  from  the  South,  seconded  by  Mr. 
Gorham  from  the  North,  and  that  the  report  was  not 
acted  upon  until  the  next  day  after  it  was  laid  before 
the  convention,  it  may  ftxirly  be  presumed  that,  in  the 
mean  time,  the  contending  parties  had  come  to  an  un- 
derstanding upon  the  subject,  and  agreed  to  settle  it  by 
a  silent  vote.  But  there  is  no  indication  of  any  change 
of  opinion  or  feeling,  either  by  northern  or  southern 
members,  from  what  had  been  expressed  in  the  preced- 
ing debate.  Even  after  the  question  was  decided, " Gouv- 
erneur  Morris  was  for  making  the  clause  read  at  once, 
'  The  iniporiation  of  slaves  into  North  Carolina,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  Georgia  shall  not  be  prohibited,'  etc.     This,  he  said, 

would  be  most  fair He  wished  it  to  be  known 

th.it  this  part  of  the  constitution  was  a  compliance  with 
those  States.  If  the  change  of  language,  however, 
should  be  objected  to  by  the  members  from  those 
States,  he  should  not  urge  it."=== 

That  the  same  feeling  continued  to  prevail  with  the 
southern  members  is  evident  from  the  course  taken  by 
Mr.  Rutledire   of  South  Carolina  within  a  week  of  the 


o 


*  Madison  Papers,  j).  1427. 


14 


close  of  the  convention.  When  the  provisions  respect- 
ing amendments  to  tlie  constitution  were  under  con- 
sideration, with  true  southern  perseverance,  to  guard 
against  every  possibihty  of  defeat  where  the  interest  of 
his  State  was  concerned,  he  said,  "Jle  never  would 
agree  to  give  a  power  by  which  the  articles  relating  to 
slaves  might  be  altered  by  the  States  not  interested  in 
that  property,  and  prejudiced  against  it."  In  order  to 
obviate  this  objection  these  words  were  added  to  tiie 
proposition:  —  '-Provided  that  no  amendments  which 
may  be  made  prior  to  the  year  1808,  shall  in  any  man-, 
ner  affect  the  fourth  and  fifth  sections  of  the  seventh 
article."* 

Now  let  us  look  back  to  the  view  of  tlie  case  with 
which  we  commenced,  and  which  amounts  to  little  less 
than  a  charge  upon  tlie  free  States  as  the  advocates  of 
slavery,  and  giving  the  slave  States  the  credit  of  being 
the  champions  of  freedom.  One  would  think  that  the 
absurdity  of  this  would  secure  it  from  currency  and  be- 
lief, but  nothing  seems  too  absurd  to  gain  credit  with 
those  who  are  disposed  to  believe  a  thing  because  it  is 
unreasonable.  Published  in  a  widely  circulating  paper 
at  the  seat  of  government,  with  some  show  of  author- 
ity by  quotation  from  the  journal  of  the  convention, 
adopted  as  correct  in  a  work  professing  to  take  a  candid 
view  of  the  mntter,  quoted  and  repeated  by  southern 
men  in  their  speeches  in  the  senate,  uncontradicted, — 
nav,  admitted  bv  a  senator  from  the  North,  what  should 
prevent  it  from  becoming  a  settled  axiom  of  history, — 
such  as  might  well  give  occasion  for  the  remark  of  Wal- 

*  Mntlison  Piipcr.*,  j>.  1j."G. 


15 


pole,  "  Give  me  any  thing  but  history,  for  that  mud  be 
false."  To  be  sure  the  materials  exist  for  correcting  the 
falsehood  ;  but  what  induencc  have  such  materials,  rest- 
ing upon  the  shelves  of  our  libraries,  against  the  confi- 
dent assertions  of  political  writers  upon  an  exciting  sub- 
ject, constantly  obtruded  before  the  public  by  a  party 
press. 

From  the  whole  of  the  foregoing  view  of  the  matter 
there  seems  to  be  no  reason  to  charge  any  northern 
State  or  individual  with  lukewarmness  in  regard  to 
slavery,  or  to  compliment  the  South  with  any  excess  of 
liberality  on  the  subject.  Without  indulging  in  any 
animosity  or  reproaches  against  the  North  or  the  South, 
it  is  very  clear  that  the  articles  of  the  constitution  in 
relation  to  slavery,  as  well  as  many  other  subjects,  were 
the  result  of  concession  and  compromise,  without  which 
it  would  have  been  impossible  to  have  agreed  upon  the 
constitution  under  which  we  have  thus  far  prospered,  or 
to  have  devised  any  means  of  continuing  that  union  of 
States  which  has  made  us  a  nation,  and  without  which 
we  should  only  have  been  a  weak  confederacy,  or  per- 
haps a  league  of  contending  communities.  It  is  much 
to  be  regretted  that  there  is  at  present  such  a  want  of 
that  conciliatory  feeling,  the  true  '■'■spirit  of  sevei^ty-six^^ 
as  must  make  us  doubt  whether,  even  in  this  age  of  im- 
provement, we  are  in  reality  growing  wiser  than  our 
fathers. 

Cambridge,  March,  1856. 


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